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Rabi Banerjee
Rabi Banerjee

WEST BENGAL

India's first underwater rail tunnel progressing in Kolkata

kmrc-tunnel-bera Work progressing in one of the tunnels in Kolkata | Salil Bera

The two-km long tunnel will connect Howrah to Salt Lake city

A two-kilometre long tunnel is being laid under river Hooghly in Kolkata as part of a grand plan of the state government to run the East-West Metro railway from Howrah to Salt Lake City.

While phase one of the project is completed, work on phase two began last month. This phase, the entire cost of which will be borne by the Union government, involves boring a tunnel under the river. Once completed, this will be India's first underwater railway tunnel.  

The tunnel is being laid under the river at Howrah Maidan area and it would touch the other side of the river near Esplanade. There will be two stations under the river, said a Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) official. 

However, the construction suffered a roadblock as the tunnel could not be penetrated deep inside due to technological reasons. A KMRC official said all hurdles to build the tunnel and underground stations would be eradicated soon.

“We are taking help from engineers,” he said. The second phase is expected to be completed by September this year. 

Urban development minister Firhad Hakim said the state government has helped the Centre by providing land and eradicating encroachment. “State government has shared maximum burden to help the project become successful,” he said. While the West Bengal government has 30 per cent share in KMRC, the Centre has 25 per cent stake and Japan Bank for International Cooperation owns the rest 45 per cent.

The metro connection will reach Esplanade from Howrah and then would come to Sealdah and will enter Salt Lake via Phoolbagan, covering a total distance of about 17 km.

Interestingly, the idea of the underwater tunnel dates back to the first state government. It was first ideated by West Bengal’s first chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1960. Taking a leaf out of London, he had proposed the idea to then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. 

While Nehru accepted the metro rail proposal he did not accept the idea to connect Kolkata (then Calcutta) with Howrah, which was then a vibrant industrial town.

Later, when Sidhartha Shankar Ray became the chief minister in 1972, he proposed it again to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Indira accepted it and asked the then urban development minister to carry out a survey. But the survey began only when Abdul Ghani Khan Chaudhury became the railway minister in early eighties.

The survey was done but nothing much happened after that. Later, it was after 1998 when Mamata Banerjee became the railway minister that the matter was expedited. In 2010, it finally got the nod from the Centre. 

Over the six years, the estimated cost of the project shot up from Rs 250 crore to Rs 2,000 crore. “But we will complete the project even if the cost escalates,” said Babul Supriyo, Union minister of state for heavy industries.

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Topics : #West Bengal | #railways

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